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Quarter-Final Appointments For Irish Referees

Quarter-Final Appointments For Irish Referees

Top Irish referees Alan Lewis and Peter Fitzgibbon, who were on Magners League duty over the weekend, have been handed two plum appointments for next month’s European quarter-finals.

Alan Lewis will take charge of the all-English Heineken Cup quarter-final between Leicester Tigers and Bath at the Walkers Stadium on Saturday, April 11.

Former cricket international Lewis is the most experienced referee in Heineken Cup history, having refereed 58 tournament matches to date.

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His appointments in this season’s Heineken Cup have taken him to Clermont Auvergne, Glasgow, Paris, Perpignan, Gloucester and Castres.

England’s Wayne Barnes has been pencilled in to referee the quarter-final clash of defending champions Munster and the Ospreys at Thomond Park on Sunday, April 12.

That same afternoon will see Welshman Nigel Owens referee Leinster’s quarter-final encounter with Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop.

The referee appointments were announced earlier today by the ERC (European Rugby Cup), the tournament organisers.

Meanwhile, the man in the middle for Connacht’s European Challenge Cup quarter-final tie with Northampton Saints will be Romain Poite of France.

Limerick man Peter Fitzgibbon will take his European match tally to 15 when he referees the Worcester Warriors v Brive quarter-final game in the European Challenge Cup.

The games in Northampton and Worcester will both be played on the afternoon of Saturday, April 11.

Fitzgibbon made his European refereeing bow in Bucharest in October 2006 and has quickly risen up the ranks. He took control of last year’s inaugural IRB Junior World Championship final.

The referees nominated for the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup quarter-finals are drawn from the European 2008/09 Referees Panel.

The nominations are considered by the ERC Match Officials Sub Committee, made up of Referee Managers from the six Unions of the participating teams, who review and confirm the final appointments.

MATCH REFEREE APPOINTMENTS:

2008/09 HEINEKEN CUP QUARTER-FINALS:

SATURDAY, APRIL 11 –

Cardiff Blues v Toulouse – Millennium Stadium, 3.30pm – Chris White (England)
Leicester Tigers v Bath Rugby – Walkers Stadium, 6pm – Alan Lewis (Ireland)

SUNDAY, APRIL 12 – 

MUNSTER v Ospreys – Thomond Park, 1pm – Wayne Barnes (England)
Harlequins v LEINSTER – Twickenham Stoop, 3.30pm – Nigel Owens (Wales)

2008/09 EUROPEAN CHALLENGE CUP QUARTER-FINALS:

THURSDAY, APRIL 9 –

London Irish v Bourgoin – 7.30pm – Peter Allan (Scotland)

SATURDAY, APRIL 11 – 

Worcester Warriors v Brive – 1pm – Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Northampton Saints v CONNACHT – 3pm – Romain Poite (France)

SUNDAY, APRIL 12 – 

Saracens v Newcastle Falcons – 3pm – Carlo Damasco (Italy)